CH 97

Translated by: Crooked

Edited by: Dust Bunny 

The remaining people were already numb to the others’ deaths. After all, in the mission world, a dead body is only the most common affair.

“The ferris wheel.” Gu Xizhou raised his head and looked at the huge wheel. He and Si Yu glanced at each other tacitly. “This ferris wheel is the last ride the little boy went on.”

No one was eager to climb on the ferris wheel to investigate. Instead, they observed from below.

The dense gathering of ghosts under the ferris wheel was more crowded than any other ride. 

The towering wheel was about 120 meters tall with 60 hanging cabins. Each cabin could seat two people. There were many people lined up in front of the ferris wheel.

“What do we do? The hint was the ferris wheel, so are the clues on the ride?”

“But the tickets haven’t told us to sit on the ferris wheel, ah. We’d better not go, right?”

Even if the tickets had made them ride those lethal amusement park rides, it was only natural that some would be unwilling to take the initiative on their own to ride one.

Ma Qi said, “If we don’t find any clues, we can’t leave. Now that so many people have died, we got the ferris wheel hint. Even if we don’t go up, we should at least take a look, right?”

“No, ba… Are you really going to go sit down? The rules didn’t tell us to sit down. What if the ferris wheel collapses after we go up? If it falls down, we’ll all die!” The tall, muscular man who previously received Si Yu’s ticket trembled with fear.

After he spoke, he couldn’t help but shudder. Obviously, the three rides and the deadly question had already caused him to break down. He stood in place. “I won’t go up. I absolutely won’t go up…”

Ye Shu said softly, “This ferris wheel shouldn’t be very dangerous. Those ghosts seated on it have all come down safely. It’s not a problem for us to go up.” 

“I won’t go! I won’t sit!”

“As you wish.” Si Yu shot the man a languid glance. “If you want to wait until 8 o’clock to die, then suit yourself.”

After he finished speaking this cold sentence, he turned toward the others and said, “Follow me.”

The others quickly followed Si Yu. The tall and muscular man looked around him, but in the end he still chose to follow them and go up. They walked to the front of the staff office. Unexpectedly, there were no ghosts supervising. They wanted to get on the ferris wheel, but there were no employees around to help them skip the line. 

“What do we do? There’s no manager. Don’t tell me we have to line up? How long will that take?” Ma Qi looked at the densely crowded layers of ghosts, rubbing the beads of sweat off his forehead.

Si Yu said, “Even without a manager, we can still skip the line.”

Gu Xizhou scratched his head. “Did you find something?”

“Follow me.” 

Gu Xizhou watched with his own eyes as Si Yu took out a coin and bribed a little ghost in the front of the line. He felt pained.

They succeeded in climbing on the ferris wheel. Gu Xizhou had just sat down when he heard a click from outside the cabin. It was locked from the outside. Gu Xizhou hit it forcefully, but he actually couldn’t move it an inch.

Gu Xizhou said gloomily, “There’s obviously no one outside. Who locked the latch?”

Si Yu: “It’s that little boy.” 

“The one with the chain rattling?”

Si Yu nodded. “If I didn’t guess wrong, after he entered the amusement park, he played on the three previous rides before lining up for the ferris wheel. However, due to an employee’s neglect, the cabin’s door wasn’t locked, so there was a fall at the ferris wheel.”

Gu Xizhou: “This is the reason visitors can die, but staff members cannot.”

After the two finished speaking, Gu Xizhou looked around the cabin, but there was nothing inside except for two seats facing each other. “There’s nothing here.” 

Gu Xizhou raised his eyebrows, and Si Yu spread his hand. “Wait until you take a seat to say that again.”

“En.” Gu Xizhou felt that was reasonable. Maybe it was because they hadn’t finished a whole circuit that the mission wasn’t complete. The ferris wheel moved like a master machine, and Gu Xizhou leaned forward to look out the glass. He estimated that an entire circuit would take about twenty minutes.

Inside the next cabin, Ma Qi was sweating profusely. He had turned over the whole cabin to investigate and didn’t find a thing. He sat on the chair and rolled his eyes at Ye Shu. “You’re just sitting around? Not going to help look?”

Ye Shu sneered, “Do you think there’s anywhere to hide something in a place this size? It’s better to sit and finish a circuit before doing anything else.” 

Ma Qi rubbed his forehead, then suddenly looked at Ye Shu. This woman’s level of calm was outrageous. “What are you thinking about?”

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Ye Shu: “Can this be considered your intuition as a police officer?” 

Ma Qi: “Could be, ba. I think you’re very amazing. Even without Gu Xizhou you could have survived, so why did you look for him in the police station and forcibly pull him in?”

Ye Shu didn’t answer Ma Qi, but she reached into her bag and pulled out a pen, fiddling with it in her hands. She said in her heart: I also don’t know why I had to find him, ah.

After the ferris wheel finished its circuit, Gu Xizhou urgently looked around the cabin for clues, but he came up empty-handed.

“WTF, that little ghost isn’t just playing with us, right?” Gu Xizhou cursed. He looked at the clock outside. Right now, there were only forty minutes until 8 o’clock, and the cabin’s door was tightly locked. It was impossible to leave. 

“No.” Si Yu sat across from Gu Xizhou, gazing at the bright lights of the ferris wheel. “He’s not playing with us. There’s only one way to leave the ferris wheel.”

Gu Xizhou: “The ferris wheel is the way to leave this world?”

Si Yu: “Do you still remember the child’s third diary?”

Gu Xizhou nodded, “I remember.” 

Si Yu: “He said the amusement park can help him achieve his wish.”

Gu Xizhou was at a loss. What the hell?

Si Yu explained, “The child’s imagination was limitless. Have you ever heard the legend about the ferris wheel?”

Gu XIzhou: “What?” 

Si Yu: “When the ferris wheel cimbs to the tallest point, you can make a wish, and it will come true.”

“In his diary he said he wished for his parents to accompany him. This wish seems pretty simple.” Gu Xizhou thought. “But he died. His wish should have been altered to some extent, right?”

Si Yu looked at him and nodded. “En.”

Soon, their cabin was going to reach the zenith… Gu Xizhou suddenly slapped his head. “If it really is about wishes, I know how to make a wish!” 

After the time taken for another circuit, there were still 12 minutes until 8 o’clock. Gu Xizhou’s cabin climbed toward the zenith. Gu Xizhou closed his eyes and put his palms together to make a wish.

“I’m not sure whether its wish has changed.” Gu Xizhou winked at Si Yu, as if looking for praise. “I just wished for Tong Tong’s wish to be fulfilled. No matter if it’s changed or not, it’ll be fine.”

Si Yu smiled and gave a light “en”.

After Gu Xizhou made a wish, the two keenly noticed that the ferris wheel’s music changed. 

The ferris wheel turned and brought Gu Xizhou and the others toward the bottom. After waiting for them to leave the ferris wheel, the whole amusement park suddenly collapsed. All the malicious spirits dissipated simultaneously, and the park fell to ruins.

A little boy holding a balloon stood among the overgrown ruins. He opened his mouth and said, “Thank you.”

Then, the little boy’s body disappeared. A wooden door appeared in the middle of the ruins with a white balloon tied to the door handle.

“It’s over?” The tall and muscular man didn’t dare to believe his eyes. He was covered in cold sweat from head to toe. He was just sitting in a locked cabin already thinking about how he would die. He didn’t expect that everything would be all over in a split second. Besides him, a young woman with weak legs directly sat on the ground and began to weep. 

The survivors left one by one, but Gu Xizhou, Ma Qi, Si Yu, and Ye Shu stayed behind.

Gu Xizhou’s eyes were on Ye Shu. Ye Shu very conscientiously walked over to Gu Xizhou. She took out a pencil. It was very short, only a little longer than Gu Xizhou’s pinky finger. She also took out a notebook that she must carry on her.

“Hold out your hand,” said Ye Shu to Gu Xizhou.

Gu Xizhou nodded and stretched out his hand. He and Ye Shu both intersected their hands, holding the pencil between them. 

“Relax your hand, but gently clasp the pen. Recite in your mind: Pen fairy pen fairy, I am your life. If you want to continue your karma with me, please draw a circle.”

Gu Xizhou followed Ye Shu’s instructions and suddenly discovered that the pencil was slightly moving. He heard Ye Shu say, “Just recite in your heart what you want to know.”

Gu Xizhou recited in his heart: Why was I resurrected?

After it finished, Gu Xizhou looked at the notebook in his hands with a raised eyebrow. Was this pen fairy teasing him? 

‘Destiny’, what is this bullshit?

He was resurrected because of destiny? What’s the difference between this and no answer?

Gu Xizhou looked at Ye Shu, a little angry. “Are you sure this thing works, ah?”

Ye Shu: “It’s your choice whether or not to believe it. It already answered.” 

Ma Qi on the side saw Gu Xizhou get an answer and asked curiously, “Xizhou, what did you ask about? The answer is actually this?”

“I asked why we could enter the mission worlds,” Gu Xizhou said casually.

Then, he passed through the wooden door in the middle of the ruins. After the usual dizziness, Gu Xizhou heard a gentle voice in his ears.

“My son, why are you sleeping here?!” A woman opened the door and saw her son sitting on the floor by the front door, leaning against the shoe cabinet, fast asleep. 

The woman gently patted the little boy’s face and called him to wake up. Her face was somewhat haggard, and there were dark circles under her eyes. It was clear she didn’t rest well last night.

After the little boy was woken up, he rubbed his bleary eyes with his plump little hand and replied, “I waited for Mama to come home.”

The woman immediately stood up gently, leading her child by the hand. Soon after she brought the child in, she asked, “What about your dad?”

The little boy shook his head. “Don’t know.” 

The woman raised her eyebrows. When she was about to pull out her phone, she heard a sudden ‘gugugu’. She looked down at her son, who was covering his belly, and her expression changed. “You haven’t eaten yet?”

The little boy shook his head, but very quickly changed to nodding under the woman’s stern gaze.

The woman was so angry that her face twisted. She took out her phone and made a call. After it rang for a short time, a hoarse male voice came from the phone.

“Why are you calling me right now? I’m busy!” 

The woman’s voice was sharp enough to pierce someone’s eardrums. “How on earth did you become a father? Tong Tong hasn’t eaten, but you left? What were you thinking?”

“Is your son so unimportant to you? As long as you eat, you don’t care about anyone else?”

The man sounded overcome with boredom when he explained. “There was an issue at work. I can’t ignore my work, can I?”

“Work? What work? The work you put in at the mahjong tables? En?” The woman was relentless. “I tell you, if you’re not back in half an hour, don’t bother coming back at all! This family is better off without you!” 

After she spoke, the woman indignantly tossed the cell phone to the floor. She cried as she ran to the kitchen to make the simplest eggs-and-leftovers egg fried rice. The woman wiped her tears as she cooked.

The sensitive little boy was heartbroken. He clung to his mama’s trouser leg. “Mama, I’m not hungry. Don’t fight because of me.”

The woman crouched down and held her son. “Mama isn’t fighting with dad because of you. Don’t cry. Wait for mama to make you some fried rice.”

After her son was pushed out of the kitchen, the woman cried and cooked. 

After leaving, the little boy quickly picked up mama’s cell phone and turned it on again to call his dad.

“Dad, come back quick, ba. Mama’s crying. Don’t play mahjong, okay.”

The man on the phone heard his son’s voice and was silent for a while. Then, he said, “Okay. Be good, Tong Tong. Dad is coming back right now.”

As time moved forward, this type of scene happened again and again. Tong Tong’s mother might as well have been a widow. 

One time, Gu Xizhou saw the little boy Tong Tong writing the first essay: My Mama. The next day, he wrote the second essay: My Dad.

When he was writing the second essay, it was just like Gu Xizhou thought. The little boy Tong Tong rewrote it many times and finally handed in the version Gu Xizhou and the others saw.

When Tong Tong wrote his third essay, 《What Are You Going to Do This Weekend?》, Gu Xizhou got an important clue. The weekend that they were going to the amusement park was Tong Tong’s birthday. That was why he asked his parents to take him to the amusement park.

The little boy walked in the middle of his parents. He was holding an ice cream cone and taking big bites as they went up to the park gates. He pointed at the rides inside with excitement. 

Tong Tong’s parents were both in foul moods, but after seeing their son so happy, they didn’t immediately quarrel. Instead, they took Tong Tong to the nearby carousel, followed by the bumper cars and the haunted house.

But nothing good lasts forever. Tong Tong’s parents still broke out in a fight, and they both stormed off, leaving Tong Tong alone. Tong Tong began to cry helplessly. He cried for a very long time, but his parents didn’t come back.

Tong Tong remembered something his classmate told him: If you make a wish at the tallest point of the park’s ferris wheel, it will come true…

The crying Tong Tong lined up for the ferris wheel for a very long time before he could sit down on the wheel. By this time, his parents had cooled down. They hurried back to look for Tong Tong, but they discovered he was missing. 

They hurried to the broadcast station to ask for them to announce a missing person. This was when the accident happened.

Tong Tong sat in the cabin as it rose to the zenith. He stood up, wanting to lean on the door to see more clearly, but no one knew… the cabin’s door hadn’t been locked.

“Ah——” Tong Tong didn’t expect that the door would open as soon as he leaned against it, and he slipped and fell down.

Tong Tong’s body fell from the sky onto the axis in the middle of the ferris wheel. His body looked like it was poured into a giant meat grinder. Blood flowed along the pillars bracing the ferris wheel like a river. 

Inside the broadcast station, the two parents saw the scene with their own eyes and immediately collapsed. By the time they arrived, Tong Tong was already dead. The two guilty parents each blamed the other for their child’s death and began to beat each other…

The once loving couple became mortal enemies. The two people sank into endless guilt and suffering.

After his death, Tong Tong held a balloon and stood to the side with his cheeks silently streaming with tears as he watched his parents fight each other. Then, Gu Xizhou saw Tong Tong following the two adults, watching his own parents endlessly hurt each other in order to punish themselves for his death.

After Tong Tong’s death, the two parties criticized each other and used the most malicious words to tear into each other. 

Dead Tong Tong stood to the side and wept. He wished for his parents to stop fighting, but it was no use.

In the wake of the breaking chains, Gu Xizhou heard Tong Tong’s wish: I wish dad and mama didn’t give birth to Tong Tong. That way, they wouldn’t fight because of Tong Tong.

A moment later, Gu Xizhou sucked in a breath and returned to reality. His body was right next to Ma Qi and Ye Shu. Ye Shu looked at him with a complicated expression. Suddenly, she took something and went out.

Xiang Yuan, who came to watch the excitement, heard their coworkers’ gossip about Gu Xizhou and complained, “They wouldn’t be talking about the woman who just walked out, right? Lao Gu, how could you?” 

“You did unspeakable things to such a beautiful woman?”

Ye Shu left the police department with a pale face and opened her hands. In her palm was a sheet of paper. She unfolded the note and saw some messy scratched out pencil marks. She could only vaguely make out the written character——Si.

Ye Shu stood in place. She actually lied to Gu Xizhou. The Pen Fairy could be used many times in any world.

She remembered that she asked the Pen Fairy two questions just now: 

‘I could deal with this world without Gu Xizhou. I could guess the game rules. Even if I couldn’t leave until I made a wish, I could do it as long as I had your clue. Why did you tell me to look for him?’

The Pen Fairy’s answer was——Without him, you would certainly die.

‘Why would I certainly die?’

The Pen Fairy answered her once more, but the answer only had one character——Si. 

Inside the police department——

“I don’t know her at all.” Gu Xizhou explained with a strange smile. Right when he was talking to Xiang Yuan, his phone went off.

Si Yu: Can you tell me… what was the question you asked the Pen Fairy?

Gu Xizhou hesitated before he replied: I asked it why I could be pulled into the mission worlds. 

Si Yu: What was its answer?

Gu Xizhou: Destiny.

At that time, Si Yu was in his home as he looked down at Gu Xizhou’s text notification. He grabbed his phone and paused slightly. After a short moment, Si Yu edited his message to Gu Xizhou: Actually, it was right to answer like that.

Gu Xizhou: Every question can be answered with “destiny”. What’s the difference between saying that and just toying with me… 

Si Yu: En… That’s right, there’s something I want to ask you.

Gu Xizhou: What do you want to ask?

Si Yu: That kiss was really your first, right? Your reaction was very… en… amateurish.

Gu Xizhou: …… 

Si Yu: En?

Gu Xizhou: You’re an old hand, very amazing?

Si Yu: I’m not.

Gu Xizhou: Do you think I believe that? 

Si Yu: I’m really not.